Bradl returns to action in Germany to claim thirteenth place

The German Round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship has taken place with local hero Stefan Bradl in thirteenth place at the end of the 21-lap encounter at the Lausitzring racetrack. His Red Bull Honda World Superbike team mate for this ninth event of the season, Davide Giugliano, crossed the finish line in 17th position.

After missing the opening race of the weekend due to severe pain in his elbow, which was badly bruised and wounded following an unfortunate crash on Friday, Bradl was able to line up on the grid for race two. The 27-year-old from Augsburg maintained his position at the start and as the race got closer to its halfway point, he entered a battle for 12th place with Leandro Mercado and Raffaele de Rosa. Bradl successfully overtook the latter on lap 19 as he moved up to thirteenth, a position he defended hard up to the chequered flag.

Davide Giugliano did not enjoy a good start as he was down to 20th place on the opening lap. The Italian was able to make his way back to 17th place in the early stages but struggled to keep a competitive pace as the laps went by. In the final part of the encounter, the former STK1000 Champion fended off the attacks coming from Badovini to end the race two positions away from the top 15.

World Superbike will now enjoy another break before the next round of the season, which takes place at Portimão’s Autodromo do Algarve on September 15-17.

Stefan Bradl 6

13th

It was good to take part in the race. I felt OK to ride because when the adrenaline kicks in you don’t feel too much pain. I feel it was the right decision to sit out yesterday’s race in order to be almost fully fit today. Unfortunately, my feeling with the bike today was not perfect, because it was nervous over the many bumps and I suffered a bit on corner exit as well. Surely the lack of track time from not having raced yesterday did not help. I had to keep my pace under control for the most part, but in the final laps I could push a bit more and overtake De Rosa before the finish line. I’m a bit disappointed with this race and obviously for the weekend in general, but I hope for next event we’ll be able to make a bigger step forwards.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

Davide Giugliano 34

17th

This morning we made a good step forward in warm up and I was able to lap much faster than I had done over the whole weekend. I felt good with the bike at the beginning of the race and was able to make some passes, but unfortunately after 4 to 5 laps the rear tyre started to wear, so it was impossible for me to keep up that good pace. There isn’t much else to say, really, but I guess this is part of racing. Too bad, because we worked very well this morning and my feeling with the Fireblade had improved significantly from yesterday.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

Pieter Breddels

We tried some changes this morning with both riders and they turned out to be quite positive. Stefan’s elbow condition improved from yesterday so he could take part in the race, and he had quite a good start and fought for half the race for 12th place. Unfortunately, the bike was moving a bit too much and he was having a tough time, and he was also struggling with drive out of the corners. Davide had an encouraging first part of the race, but from lap three onwards he started to struggle with rear grip, and data confirmed this issue. We have another break now, which will help us analyse all the telemetry ahead of Portimão. It’ll be interesting to go back to Portugal after the tests we did earlier this year, and the extra day of testing after the round will surely be of great help for us, too.

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